This close up and in the light, I could see the different shards of gold and chocolate flecks that made up his expressive eyes. They weren’t merely dark or brown, they were a myriad of different shades—like a makeup artist’s natural palette.
He seemed bigger now too, taller. Wider. More like the sculpted, muscular man I’d danced with on Friday night than the handsome playboy of the last two days.
The scent I remembered from when I was pressed against him at the club lingered around him now. Stronger and not diluted by the faint hint of tequila as it had been, catching a whiff of it was like being injected by the world’s most powerful aphrodisiac. It triggered all those memories for me of how I’d felt in his arms, what his thigh felt like pressed against my center.
I took a small step back. Being that close to him was only going to get me in trouble. As I stepped back, Jeremiah gave his head a subtle, almost imperceptible shake and a determined edge crept into his eyes.
“Forget I said anything, okay Stephanie?” His voice was rougher now, more compelling. Power and control radiated from him in a way it only could if that kind of thing was your birthright, as it was his.
Shit. I should’ve bolted when I had the chance. Now, my feet were rooted to his plush carpet, and my fingers refused to tighten around the doorjamb. I was going to hear him out.
“Forget you said what?” I said, summoning every ounce of inner nonchalance I could. Do not give in to him.
“You’ve got the skills I’m interested in, for my secretary.” He emphasized the last word, then shifted so his arm grazed mine and his body faced mine directly. Caging me in effortlessly and without having to raise so much as a finger. He didn’t have to. I was held in place by the sudden dominance in his stance.
“But understand that if we’d have danced longer, or you’d stayed at the club, this would’ve been an awkward day for both of us.”
My mouth dried up. All the moisture in my body was flowing south. It was completely unreasonable what my traitorous body was doing to me. At least there were corners of my mind still functioning, barely. “Yeah? How’s that?”
The corner of his full mouth pulled up into a smirk and a dark brow lifted. “Because you’d have spent the weekend moaning my name.”
“Hmm… Pretty confident I was interested in your skills, aren’t you? Provided you even have any.”
He shrugged. “Too bad for you. You’ll never know now. But let’s just say I’m more than ‘pretty confident’ you were interested and one hundred percent certain my ears would still have been ringing from hearing you scream my name all weekend.”
“I’ve already gone from moaning to screaming have I?” Thank god I had a decent amount of sassiness to fall back on no matter what my situation. I squeezed my thighs together, hoping he didn’t notice the effect he had on me.
“Moaning, screaming, begging, pleading with a deity for relief. I’m sure we would’ve covered the full range.”
Good lord. I had to get out of here. Dirty talk was a bit of a weakness for me, and with that mouth… No, I wasn’t going to hang around for him to describe our hypothetical naughty weekend any longer. That wouldn’t end well for me.
Finally managing to convince my fingers to listen to me, I twisted the doorjamb and pulled it open. “Goodbye, Mr. Williams. I’ll have my answer for you by Monday.”